Claudia Center

Meeting of June 8, 2011 - EEOC to Examine Use of Leave As Reasonable Accommodation

Claudia Center has been with the Legal Aid Society -- Employment Law Center in San Francisco since 1995. Ms. Center litigates cases that secure workplace accommodations and increase protections for workers with disabilities, and is actively involved in appellate work. She played a key role in the passage of an amendment to the FEHA that succeeded in broadening protections for persons with disabilities in employment and housing. In Fall 2001, Ms. Center argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in US Airways, Inc. v. Barnett, a case that clarified in a positive manner the scope of "reasonable accommodations" for disabled employees. In 1997, she started the LIBRA Project, a special initiative to advance the employment rights of persons with mental health conditions. She has served as an adjunct professor teaching disability rights law at Hastings College of the Law and at Berkeley Law. Prior to coming to the LAS-ELC, Ms. Center was a staff attorney at the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) in Washington, D.C. and a recipient of the Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship. She obtained her B.A. in Government and African Studies from Wesleyan University in 1987 and her J.D. from Boalt Hall at the University of California in 1992.